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Describes her life in the Lewistown, Montana. F.C.H.S. Graduate, 1918. Burning of German textbooks during WW I.

Creator

By Anna Zellick, F.C.H.S. Graduate, 1935, University of Chicago, A.B. 1941; M.A. 1945. Lecturer, College of Great Falls at Lewistown College Center.

Genre

documents

Type

Text

Date Original

1978-07-11

Subject (keyword)

Judith Dairy;

Subject (AAT)

Schools;

Rights Management

No copyright restrictions.

Contributing Institution

Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown, MT.

Publisher (Original)

Prepared for Ronald B. Mattson, Superintendent of Schools and Lewistown School District #1

Geographic Coverage

Fergus County, Montana. Lewistown, Montana

Coverage-date

1912-1918

Digital Format

application/pdf

Physical format

PDF

Digitization Specifications

Canon MX310 300dpi

Full text of this item

INTERVIEW WITH ESTHER APPLE
F.C.H.S. GRADUATE 1918
JULY 11, 1978
BY ANNA ZELLICK
F.C.H.S. GRADUATE, 1935
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO— A.B. 1941; M.A. 1945
LECTURER, COLLEGE OF GREAT FALLS AT LEWISTOWN COLLEGE CENTER
PREPARED FOR DR. RONALD B. MATTSON, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS AND LEWISTOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 1
MR. DAVID L. MOODIE MRS. DONN R. PENNELL MR. WM. E. BERGER*
MRS. ROBERT L. JOHNSON MR. JOHN THUNE* MR. ALAN C. FOLDA
MR. AL MCRAE MRS. CHARLES W. WICKS MR. FOY MCCOLLUM
* SUCCEEDED BY MR, GEORGE THORSON AND MRS. JOE C. WICKS FOLLOWING ELECTION APRIL 4, 1978,
Interview:
Zellick: Esther, it is nice to be able to visit with you while you are visiting here in Montana with your sister, Daisy Ruckman and her husband, George whom we have just interviewed. Would you be kind enough to give us a brief resume of your educational career?
Apple: I started school here in the second grade, and went through the eighth. My parents moved to Tennessee for a period of two years. We returned here and started here in my sophomore year in high school. I graduated here in 1918.
Zellick: Where did you go for your 7th and 8th grade?
Apple: Hawthorne School.
Zellick: What are some of your recollections of your high school days? You were listening as George Ruckman was giving us the highlights of his educational career. Do you remember anything about the book burning episode at the Fergus County High School?
Apple: I don't remember any of the details, but I certainly remember about the high school being burned. I know that we were really shocked when we heard that.
Zellick: Weren't you taking German at the time?
Apple: Yes, I was taking my second year of German. I was really disappointed because I couldn't finish it.
Zellick: When the books burned, that was really the end. Were you given any credit for your second year of German?
Apple: I think they probably gave us a half semester credit. I don't remember the details. Miss Agnes Trost was my teacher. She was an excellent teacher.
Zellick: Was she? In view of your interesting and varied professional career that has taken you all over the country, how do you evaluate your local educa¬tional experience? And, in your opinion, what were some of your outstanding high school subjects and outstanding teachers?
Apple: Well, Miss Maude Burroughs taught business subjects. I took shorthand, typing, and, also, bookkeeping. I took two years of bookkeeping. I took two years of bookkeeping from her. I took English from Miss Ethlyn Holt. And, of course, I had history, mathematics, algebra, geometry and other subjects. The outstanding things to me were the commercial courses because that was what I mainly interested in. And I found out many years later, through experience, that the schools in the Northwest appear to be superior to the schools in the South, although I live there, I will explain my reason for thinking this. At one time I was given a special assignment for three months to conduct civil service examinations at Eglin Air Base, the largest in the world. I gave exams for nurses, plumbers, electricians, secretaries, stenographers, etc. When giving exams for typists and stenographers, I discovered that the highest grades were made by people from the Middle West and the Northwest. The lowest grades were made by people from the Southern States. This shocked me.
Zellick: You say the Eglin Air Force Base is the largest in the world? Where is it located?
Apple: It's the largest air base in the world, located at Valparaiso, Florida, ten miles from Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, where I live.
Zellick: In what way did your educational career in Lewistown public school system help you?
Apple: Well, after graduating from high school I worked in Lewistown a number of years. Then my first job in the government service was secretarial, in 1934. I didn't stay in that job very long. I was promoted to another one. Later, I went to night school at the University of Maryland and took shorthand reporting. I passed the examination and traveled with the court reporting staff of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Legal Section for about a year. I traveled to many places in the United States on court cases. I, finally, transferred to Auburn, Alabama to a research laboratory and worked there for five years. Then at the beginning of World War II, I was selected by the U. S. Army to work at Clarksville, Tenn., where I worked as a secretary for a short time. And then I was promoted to the Supply Division where I had fifty people under my supervision. Then I was sent to various Army and Air Force Schools, including Air University and was grad¬ually promoted from one grade to another finally reaching the professional level.
Zellick: You really feel that all of these successful working experiences can be attributed to your educational foundation provided here in the Lewistown School System?
Apple: I think so. Yes, I do. It had a great deal to do with it. I was fort¬unate in having such good teachers. They took an interest in their students.
Zellick: Esther, tell us a little bit about your shorthand education you re¬ceived following your graduation from high school.
Apple: I went to Edwards Business College. It was located in the Montana Build¬ing. I believe the top floor.
Zellick: It was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Edwards.
Apple: I went there for six months.
Zellick: Edwards's daughter, Amy Lou and son, Bob went through the local school system. Amy Lou was graduated in 1937 and Bob in 1939.
Apple: My education there was very helpful.
Zellick: But you came to Mr. and Mrs. Edwards with a good foundation from high school?
Apple: Right.
Zellick: Your niece, Margaret Ruckman Joseph, now living in Livingston, was an¬other F.C.H.S. graduate. She also astounded the Southerners, as you did, with her high quality performance. You said that she was graduated in 1945.
Apple: Margaret came to visit me during the war. The only way she could stay any length of time was to work at the base, Camp Rucker in the Alabama which is near Dothan, Alabama. Margaret took the Civil Service examination and astounded them because she made such a high average. She made 98 plus. She was given a good position and worked there for a year. They wanted her to continue, but she came back home to Montana.
Zellick: What is interesting about your family is that it founded the Judith Dairy in 1908.
Apple: That's right.
Zellick: Your father, Ridley Apple, introduced glass milk bottles to Lewistown.
Apple: Yes, he delivered the milk and the cream in glass bottles, and they came in all sizes from a gill, and half-pint to a gallon. He introduced the glass bottles in 1908 to 1909.
Zellick: Where was the Judith Dairy located?
Apple: It was located in the area where the Dash Inn and the Brandt Motel are now located.
Zellick: The site was then sold to the Great Northern Railway that began with construction of a railroad grade in 1913.
Apple: Right.
Zellick: Is there anything else that you would like to Share with us that is school related?
Apple: No, I don't think so.
Zellick: Thank you very much for your willingness to schedule this interview with me. I shall try hard to get you typescript to you before you leave for Florida. In the meanwhile, a joyous vacation to you.
Lewistown School District No. One Oral History Project
1979
TABLE OF TAPE CONTENTS
Tape Number 1
Narrator: Esther Apple. Occupation: Retired. U.S. Army-professional. Address: Falcon House Apts. 167; 615 James Lee Road. Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32548 Length: ½ hr. Date of Interview: July 11, 1978. Session 1 Place: 708 W. Pine, Ruckman Residence Title or Subject: Recollections of F.C.H.S. Days 1918 with particular emphasis on good foundation provided in commercial subjects, which enabled her to reach the professional level in U.S. Army.
Interviewer: Anna Zellick, F.C.H.S. Grad., 1935. Others present: Mr. and Mrs. George L. Ruckman, U. of Chicago-A.B., 1941; M.A., 1945; Lecturer at College of Great Falls, at the Lewistown Center. Contents: On Special Assignment for Dr. Ronald B. Mattson, Supr.
Interview - Esther Apple July 11, 1979
Min. Counter Tape 1 Side B: on George Ruckman tape.
10-20
Resume of educational career in Lewistown schools Second grade - Eighth grade F.C.H.S.: .Sophomore - 1918 graduate. 7th and 8th grade in the Hawthorne School. F.C.H.S. Experiences. Shocked about burning of school 1918 Second year German student-unable to complete-books burned, Agnes Trost, excellent teacher Commercial and other subjects taken and teachers. Business course outstanding.
20-30
Employed by the U.F. Army Gave Civil Service Examinations. Schools in the Northwest superior, including Fergus Specific instances illustrating high quality F.C.H.S. instruction, and additional advanced training. Special positions with U.S. Army. Good high school teachers in Lewistown
30-30+
Family Background: Daughter of Ribley Apple, founder of Judith Dairy, 1909 Introduced delivery of milk in glass bottles, about 1908 or 1909. Located at the site of Brandt Motel and Dash Inn. Land sold to Great Northern Railroad 1913.
Interview continues with George Ruckman, See separate tape indexing and typescript of Ruckman Interview.
40-50
After F.C.H.S. graduation, took advanced shorthand for six months at private Edwards Business College located in the Montana Building, owned by Arthur Edwards, father of Amy Lou Edwards Work 1937 F.C.H.S. graduate and Robert Edwards, 1939 F.C.H.S. graduate. Niece, Margaret Ruckman Joseph, F.C.H.S. graduate, 1945. Excels in Civil Service Exam at Camp Rucker Alabama. End.
20 minutes.